ABSTRACT
So far we have seen Herakles the monster-fighting strong man, Herakles the tragic or comic hero, Herakles the incarnation of vice or virtue, and Herakles embroiled in politics. From a twenty-first century perspective he would seem too ambivalent a character to be an obvious candidate for worship. In keeping with the ethical complexity of ancient Greece’s polytheistic religion, however, there is widespread evidence in the ancient world for ritual practices carried out in Herakles’ honour.
